The End
by LaViaggiatrice
Summary: In which at the endo of it all, Peter Pettigrew remembers what it is to be a Gryffindor.


In the last moments of his life, as the magical indestructible hand, the gift of his mistakenly placed fealty to the Dark Lord, Petter Pettigrew reflected back on his life, repented his mistakes to whomever above him that would listen and wished with all of his heart to go back to the good old days at Hogwarts, where he might not have been someone, but at least he had friends.

He remembers that fateful September day when he was eleven and being pushed onto the train by an aunt who only wanted to get to work and walking down the long corridors filled to the brim with students much larger and more self-imposing than him. He remembers, as the last draws of air make it into his lungs, being pushed down to the floor by a well dressed older blonde boy, who wore a sneer on his aristocratic face and commanded the attention of a large group of students, all apparently slytherin, who laughed in his face as he struggled to stand up and collect his things. He can put himself back in the moment and see the boy with messy unkempt black hair and his friend with electric mischief in his eyes, both with raucous smiles on their face walk up to the blonde boy and tell him off for picking on first years. He can feel once again the flush of embarrassment and awe that filled him when he realized he was being rescued, and he can feel the warmth that comes with new friendship at the invitation to join the magnanimous pair in their compartment. Peter allows the memory to continue, reliving that first wonderful train ride, the first of seven glorious years of inclusiveness and camaraderie, and how the boy with messy hair, the obvious leader, gushed on and on of his family's legacy in Gryffindor and how his friend, the son of the prominent Black family swore up, down and sideways to find a way out of the slytherin house and Peter remembers the feast later that night and begging with that blasted hat to not put him in Slytherin or Ravenclaw, his own familial legacies, but rather to be able to join his two new friends in Gryffindor.

For a fleeting moment in between his last moment of sweet recollection, Peter even remembers looking toward the staff table directly after being sorted into Gryffindor and remembers the twinkle and precocious smile on Dumbledores face at the time and only now at the very end does he realize that maybe Dumbledore had wanted Pettigrew to pull away from his family and maybe all of the silent encouragement Peter now realizes was there all along was the old Wizard's way of being proud of Peter's decisions. This epiphany only causes Peter more anguish and he again repents for disappointing Dumbledore, and James and Sirius and Remus and Lily and the others when the eleventh hour came.

Blasted back into a memory, he remembers sitting at a library table, studying with Remus, when a very unhappy Lily Evans appears, running from a group of taunting Snakes, that git Snape at the front, and her having nowhere to go. He remembers elbowing Remus harshly in the ribs and the two standing up and in between the Slytherins and Lily, causing enough of a distraction for her to get away. He remembers the sting of the jelly legs jinx that hit him from one of the snakes and the award of ten points to both him and Remus for showing true Gryffindor courage. And the reluctant but sincere 'Thank you' from Lily.

He remembers the first time he turned into a rat, and the swell of pride at being a necessary member of the group-who else could approach the Willow? He remembers endless nights of roaming the castle drafting the map with James, endless pranks with Sirius and endless conversations with Remus. He remembers being the messenger between James and Lily when he was the only one she would even look at after the two had had a fight. He remembers standing with his friends at their wedding, at all of the countless Order Meetings when Dumbledore and Moody and the others were convinced that they could beat the psychotic power hungry wizard running rampant around England.

He remembers Harry's birth and the lull months between being made a secret keeper and the horrible July night he never thinks of. He remembers reliving their glory days whilst holed up in that blasted house.

With sadness, he remembers being approached once again by that blonde haired wizard and not having the strength to say no when the choice was between his life or his friends and he had already been tortured for hours.

With a heavy heart, he remembers the fight on the street and then running away and how he had let everything snowball and how he had no other choice but to kill one friend and sentence the other to a fate far worse.

In the last seconds of Peter Pettigrew's life. He remembers what made him a Gryffindor at the start. And Cursed his weak heart for all of his bad decisions and then took one of his last remaining moments to watch the son of his first true friend escape a mess the he himself ultimately caused. With his last thoughts, he congratulated himself for letting the boy go and once more begged whomever could hear him, namely James and Sirius and Lily, for forgiveness and felt the weight of everything lift off of him. And he closed his eyes.

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><p>I disclaim.<p>

So I know I should be focusing on 'A Beginning' but after my class on Dante today, I couldn't let this idea go. I have always wondered at Peter's placement in Gryffindor and I would like to believe- because I assume the best in people ulitmately- that at the end he repented and was forgiven. I mean for the last part- the weight of his sins being lifted to be a forgiveness by his friends. I know it has religious conotation, but I really just wanted to have them forgive Peter, which I am sure Lily and James and Sirius would after he saves Harry. So, I hope you like it, or are at least indifferent towards it. Reviews would be appreciated either way!


End file.
